


Castiel: The Table

by Teemfr3_Cherryscone



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Books, Castiel in the Men of Letters Bunker (Supernatural), DeanCas - Freeform, Destiel - Freeform, Flirting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Men of Letters Bunker (Supernatural), Mutual Pining, Reading, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:28:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27567487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teemfr3_Cherryscone/pseuds/Teemfr3_Cherryscone
Summary: Dean and Castiel spend a night off in the Men of Letters Bunker. Dean notices Castiel chooses to sit near the Winchesters' initials engraved into the end of the table, and gives Castiel a gift.WARNING: No sex in this one. Sorry! Also, Cas is used vs. Cass. Super corny SPN Short.
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester
Comments: 4
Kudos: 27





	Castiel: The Table

***A Cas-Centric SPN Short****

~~~~~~~~

Before Dean and Sam forced Castiel to go on mandatory breaks, giving himself rest whenever they felt he needed it, Cas would spend most evenings driving along the highway, or hanging out in bars. Sometimes he would spend off hours walking the streets of neighboring towns, or in parking lots for grocery stores or malls, in case he could be of help to anyone, in any way.

A few police officers used to trail him, thinking he was planning to hurt the people he watched over. But Castiel put their fears to rest pretty easily, on that score. The worst they saw him do while observing him was help an old woman with her grocery bags. Castiel ended up confronting the officers himself, when he realized what was going on. They didn't think they had heard correctly, when Cas openly said...

“If you'd like to search me now, I'm ready to cooperate. It will be some time before my family wakes up, and I have nowhere else to be, at the moment. I could ride in the backseat of your police car and to the station, if you feel it necessary.”

The police were so thrown off by the incident, they didn't know what to say. Castiel ended up stripping off his coat and showing his angel blade to the officers, explaining its use for defense and demonstrating his handling of it (The officers brought him to the station and had him show the rest of the department. They had a holding on many similar blades seemingly abandoned all across the city, and were thrown off by the shape of the weapon, not really getting much use out of it, before Castiel offered them guidance and tips). So, the police officers simply told Castiel that they'd be watching him, only to later observe him offer money to a homeless man. Soon after that, Dean and Sam had told Castiel that he gave too much of himself to others, without allowing himself time to rest or really enjoy himself, during his free-time.

Now, Castiel spends his time off watching movies with Sam or Dean, checking in on Jack and answering every or any question thrown at him (to the best of his ability, as a parent). But mainly, he would spend his off hours reading in the Men of Letters library. While mostly used for research or case-related reading, Castiel learned to find comfort in reading anything he could get his hands on, soon exhausting himself of the lore in the bunker and using Sam's library card to borrow books from the local library. Dean and Sam warned Castiel to be careful, remembering that a dangerous spell could pop up anywhere, but Castiel assured them that he had no intention of reading anything out loud and that they'd all be safe, if he read quietly and to himself.

His favorite thing to do was to sit at the end of the table, closest to the war room. The hardwood table was smooth and comforting, with the glow of the table lamp. But what Castiel loved most about this particular spot, were the initials engraved by the Winchester family, into the end of the table. 'D.W.' for Dean, 'S.W.' for Sam, and 'M.W.' for Mary.

With a book open in front of him, Castiel would read while tracing the lines of 'D.W.', with his fingertips. When Dean had carved in his initials, he had blown the shavings away, and had brushed any residue off the finished product with his fingers. Castiel could feel him. Keeping one hand on the initials, Castiel uses his other hand to turn the page of the book he's reading. But he looks up, when he hears the sound of footsteps approaching.

Dean looks tired. Sam and Dean were still sore from a hunt with Jody, a few nights ago. Castiel healed their wounds, but he could tell Dean was still shaken from the fight. They had nearly lost Jody. Without mentioning the incident, Castiel reaches up and accepts the beer bottle Dean passes to him.

“Thank you.”

“You're welcome. Resting, right? No going out tonight, after Sam and I are asleep? Remember, we..”

“I know, Dean.” Castiel gives Dean a look of exasperation and then goes back to his book. Dean notices Cas tracing over his initials on the table with his finger tips, and goes soft. Setting down his beer first, Dean takes Castiel by the hand and pulls him up and out of his seat.

“Dean, wha...” Castiel gasps, when Dean presses himself up against him.

“Dean, I...”

“Give me your hand.” Dean's voice is low and husky, and Castiel starts to feel...too much. Again. But this time, when he tries to pull away, Dean grabs onto his belt buckle to keep him where he is. Castiel's eyes go wide, and Dean just smiles at him. Then Cas realizes he's holding something in his hand. Dean's taken Castiel's hand and passed on a trinket of some kind. When Dean releases his hold and Cas looks down, he sees he's holding a swiss army knife. He looks back at Dean, confused. Dean rolls his eyes and groans.

“Yeah, okay. How about this...?” Dean takes Castiel and turns him around to face the table. Castiel's breath catches in his throat when Dean wraps an arm around his waist and presses down, so that their bodies are pressed up against each other. Castiel can hear Dean's heart pounding, can feel it against his back. He blinks a few times and feels Dean's breath against his neck. A shiver runs up and down Castiel's spine. Dean can feel it through Castiel's trench coat. He's flattered, and finds himself laughing into Castiel's hair. He tilts his head, so he can whisper into the angel's ear.

“Not what you think. Open your eyes and look down, Cas.” When he does, Castiel finds himself staring at the initials on the table. His hand holding the swiss army knife is being caressed by Dean, and his eyebrows raise in delighted surprise.

“Dean. You....I can't...I'm not...” Dean manipulates Castiel's hand to open up the knife, and slowly guides it to the blank space below Sam's initials.

“Because Jack's name is shorter, we figured it would fit nicely under Mom's and mine. Leaving the space under Sammy's wide open for you. Make sure to spell it out in full.” Dean finally releases his grip on Castiel and moves to sit on the other side of the table. Cas doesn't understand why he can't put his nickname down, instead.

“Why my name in full? Why not...” Dean rolls his eyes, like it's obvious.

“Because I said so, that's why. No offense. You're a Winchester and all, but if you carve 'C.W.' into the table, people will think 'Call of Duty.' And 'Cas' is mine, so 'Castiel' or nothing. You need a reminder on the spelling? It's C-A-S-T...What? What's that goofy smile all about?! I didn't think you'd waste any time, when I told...” Castiel's eyes are bright blue, the corners of his mouth turning up into a shy smile. He's glowing.

“Yours.” It's a whisper and Dean struggles to hear.

"What? Are you okay?” Dean looks concerned, but Castiel is still smiling, like an idiot.

“I'm wonderful. And so are you.” Dean looks around Cas, to make sure Jack or Sam aren't hanging around to hear.

“Er, yeah, thanks. Don't say that kind of crap around the others, alright?” He takes a sip of beer and Castiel leans over to start carving his name into the table. Dean pretends to browse on his laptop, but watches Cas out of the corner of his eye. He smiles to himself, loving the creased brow on Castiel's face, the way he tilts his head, when he's unsure. When he's finished, Castiel blows the shavings away (Dean can feel his chest tighten, at the sight of Castiel pursing his lips together), and Dean gets up to have a look.

He feels stupid leaning down next to Cas, just for this. Like a little kid admiring the markings on a growth chart. Both bend forward, arms resting on the table, to admire Castiel's handiwork. Dean always feels so comfortable when the two of them are this close to each other. At the same time, the parts of their bodies making contact are like fire. It puts Dean on edge, ready to break something. Ready to fight. To run away.

“Is it adequate?” Castiel's voice is gruff, yet soft, and Dean has to bite his lip to keep from saying...something wrong. Something stupid. Instead of answering, Dean reaches over and musses up Castiel's hair (an excuse to touch him). Cas smiles to himself and starts to fix his hair, until Dean scolds him for it.

“Don't you dare touch it. Keep it like that, till you're off your break. I mean it.” And Dean goes back to his lap top, and Castiel to his book. Neither really paying attention to what they're staring at, in front of them. A few moments later, Dean asks Castiel permission to play some music. He opens up his iTunes to play the same mix he gave to Cas as a gift, years ago.

Dean presses his lips together. As content as he's feeling, Dean is almost afraid to speak, now. For a moment, he let his guard down and he's an idiot for doing so. He's allowed himself to get too close, and to his best friend. One wrong word, and he could lose him, forever. Castiel knows this to be true in the more literal sense than Dean, but has disciplined himself to keeping his feelings bottled deep. But he knows that tonight was a close call. Because of that beautiful word Dean used, just now... “mine.” All Castiel can concentrate on, in this moment, is that he belongs to Dean.

A moment of pleasure, but not the “true happiness” he secretly longs for. Those words he'll never hear. The Empty easily could have taken him, with every wish, every longing. Castiel could have died with every touch, every time Dean spoke his name. But then, there must be a truer happiness than this? The Empty must have been a fool to offer Castiel such a deal, when they were in heaven. Those three words....they'll never happen. And Castiel would be mad to every say them out loud, himself.

Dean wishes he knew what Castiel was thinking. He notices that Cas has started to caress the 'D.W.' engraved in the table again, and smiles. He reaches out and just barely touches the 'C' of Castiel's name.

“Dean.”

“What!?!?” Dean yanks his hand away from the name on the table. He looks up to see Castiel smiling at him. Soft. Dean bites his lower lip.

“Thank you, Dean. For...for leaving a space for Jack.” Dean's thrown for a second, but then relaxes. He'd forgotten about both Jack and Sam. Hadn't been thinking about either of them since he last sat down.

“Yeah, about that. Don't say anything. Sam's going to ask Jack if he wants to add his name to the table, when he thinks the timing's right, or whatever.” And with that, Dean pretends to be absorbed in whatever's happening on his computer screen and Castiel goes back to his reading.

Shortly after the disruption, both Castiel and Dean let a hand wander over to the name carvings. Castiel touching 'D.W.' Dean touching 'Castiel'.

********


End file.
